SpaceX helps Ukraine; MWC; Imperas RISC-V security tests.
From pandemic to war — some of the news this week highlights reactions to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pervasive computing, IoT, 5G and beyond
SpaceX sent Starlink satellite dishes to Ukraine to enable Ukrainian access to the Internet. The caveat is the uplink signals from satellite equipment can be used to triangulate the position of the dish, which can then be hit by missile. The dishes should at least be visually disguised, says Elon Musk, among other hacks.
Mobile World Congress had 61,000 attendees this week in Barcelpna.
SiPearl will use Ansys’ multiphysics platform Ansys Redhawk-SC for power signoff for its European lower-power supercomputer chip. The high performance computing (HPC) microprocessor is part of the European Processor Initiative (EPI) consortium for exascale supercomputing. One of EPI’s goals is to create an EU Exascale machine based on EU processor by 2023.
Security
The Russian war against Ukraine has moved many Ukrainian tech firms into digital war effort, reports the BBC and Reuters, which says Ukrainian’s are working on hacks of some Russian targets.
Imperas uncorked a beta release of its RISC-V physical memory protection (PMP) architectural validation test suite for security that relies on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) such as Keystone, OpenTitan, among other security techniques. PMP ensures that memory is isolated between key security applications and other activities by using control registers for the parameterization of modes to control the memory access, permissions, and policy via software.
The inner workings of 60 encryption devices from the collection of the Deutsches Museum are now visible thanks to technology from Fraunhofer Development Center for X-ray Technology EZRT in Fürth, according to Fraunhofer IIS.
Automotive
Sony and Honda will collaborate on developing and selling electric vehicles (EVs).
Car companies are stopping selling cars to and producing cars in Russia this week because of the country’s war against Ukraine. Toyota, Daimler Truck, Mercedes-Benz, Ford are among the companies. TechCrunch has a list of the companies.
Honda has selected Renesas’ systems again for its ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems), this time to appear in China in 2022. Honda has already used the Renesas’ R-Car automotive system on a chip (SoC) and RH850 automotive MCU for the 2021 Honda SENSING Elite system, a Level 3 ADAS installed in Honda’s 2021 Legend. Recently announced, Honda has selected the R-Car S4 as the main SoC in the electronic control unit (ECU). Also the R-Car and RH850 will appear in Honda’s new SENSING 360 omnidirectional safety and driver assistance system, which will debut in China.
Tata Elxsi and Renesas have established an EV Innovation Center in Bangalore. The center, called Next Generation EV Innovation Center (NEVIC), opened in January and focuses on two-wheel and light EVs in addition to four wheels. Renesas is also working with Fixstars to create an automotive software platform lab focusing on automotive deep learning. The two companies are launching GENESIS for R-Car, where R-Car can be evaluated via the Fixstars cloud-based for use in early development of ADAS and AD systems.
The main patent holders of JPEG XS standard — a mezzanine codec for streaming high-quality image and video content for automotive, as well as many other live production, professional AV, industrial, and consumer applications — are making licensing more straightforward. Patent holders Fraunhofer IIS and intoPIX are working with UK-based IP and technology licensing company Vectis IP to offer JPEG XS patent pool license.
Infineon released a new automotive 750 V EDT2 insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) in a TO247PLUS package for discrete traction inverters. The traction inverters are used in EVs and hybrids to convert DC battery power to the AC used in motors. The IGBT is a switching device that uses bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and MOSFETs and is often used in power switching. The Infineon parts AIKQ120N75CP2 and the AIKQ200N75CP2, rated at 120 A and 200 A at 100°C with low forward voltage, are now available.
FormFactor, Inc. introduced its TESLA300 high power semiconductor probing system, designed for IGBT and power MOSFET device measurements. The probe works on wafers up to 300mm in size and can run full thermal testing from -60 to +300°C.
STMicroelectronics’ new IC for automotive door-zone and rear-window controllers can control two spindle motors at the same time and a cinch motor to close a powered tailgate or trunk. The L99DZ200G door-zone system IC is AEC-Q100 qualified and in production now.
People, companies
Si2 honored Michaela Guiney, a now retired Cadence software architect, for her contributions to Si2 as a volunteer. Guiney “is of the many unsung heroes who have made OpenAccess the stable platform for EDA development applications the industry has come to rely on,” said John Ellis, Si2 president and CEO, on Si2’s website. “Under her guidance, the Change Team shepherded OpenAccess through six major database revisions and over 100 releases.”
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